

November 2014 |
Sustainable Production |
Alberta industry urged to consider climate change in seedling selection Since about 1940, Alberta's mean annual temperature has risen between one and 1.5 degrees Celsius. Most warming occurs in the spring, which now arrives about two weeks sooner, with temperatures as much as five degrees warmer in March and April than in the past. In addition, precipitation during the growing season has substantially declined over the past several decades. |
October 2014 |
Bioindustrial Innovation |
Al Bio support for NAIT program resulting in better well site, road reclamation Early financial support from Alberta Innovates Bio Solutions (AI Bio) for the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology's (NAIT) Boreal Reclamation Program has delivered a major environmental dividend to the province in how Alberta's oil and gas companies reclaim their abandoned well sites and resource roads. |
Aug-Sept 2014 |
Bioindustrial Innovation |
The BioComposites Group plantin Alberta is very close to bringing its unique product-wood fibre mat produced from refined SPF wood fibre-to industries such as auto manufacturing that are looking for greener materials, and cost savings. |
Aug-Sept 2014 |
Bioindustrial Innovation |
Lucrative extract market opens for forest industry with AI Bio support for Radient Technologies The door is now open for forest companies to potentially tap woody biomass and residuals such as leaves and bark for their high value extracts with the launch of the Radient Technologies commercial production plant in Edmonton. |
June-July 2014 |
Bioindustrial Innovation |
AI Bio-supported research identifies wood-based polymers as cheaper and lighter alternative Wood-based polymers may soon have widespread use in automotive components but it's their potential as a replacement building material for packaging products like wood pallets that has Alberta Innovates Bio Solutions (AI Bio) excited for local forest product manufacturers. |
November 2014 |
Sustainable Production |
Delta Genomics now a full-fledged not-for-profit genomic testing service Edmonton-based Delta
Genomics, a University of Alberta spin-off "project" [and part of
an Alberta Innovates Bio Solutions centre] is now a fully
independent, fee-for-service, but not-for-profit genomic
testing service that is set to directly improve Canadian livestock
and thereby indirectly enhance world-wide animal protein
production. |
May 2014 |
Ecosystem Services and Biodiversity |
AI Bio supports research aimed at protecting landscape biodiversity in Alberta Alberta biodiversity researchers want to find ways to minimize the impact of seismic lines on wildlife populations. |
May 2014 |
Prion and Prion-like Neurological Diseases |
Drs. Sabine Gilch and Hermann Schätzl Research and innovation are driven by talent, ideas and collaboration. The Alberta Prion Research Institute, a business line within Alberta Innovates Bio Solutions, has helped to build the talent pool in Alberta since its formation in 2005. |
May 2014 |
Prion and Prion-like Neurological Diseases |
Examining the Role of Plants in Prion Transmission Science has shown that infectious prion proteins can be shed into the environment through feces, bodily fluids and decomposition of infected animals, but there is little understanding of what happens to those prions. This means that environmental elements, including plants, could play a role in prion transmission, which has implications for mitigating the spread of prion diseases. |
May 2014 |
Prion and Prion-like Neurological Diseases |
New Methods of Producing Hydrocarbons and Plastic Becoming a Reality The real value of research is in generating the knowledge that leads to game-changing products and technologies that solve problems and provide new opportunities. |
May 2014 |
Prion and Prion-like Neurological Diseases |
Alberta Researchers Take New Approaches to Alzheimer's Disease When Dr. Alois Alzheimer first identified Alzheimer's disease in 1906, he likely had no idea that the disease would become the social and health crisis that it is today. |
May 2014 |
Sustainable Production |
A professor and Chair in the department of Renewable Resources at the University of Alberta, Victor Lieffers got interested in forest management in what he says was a very odd way. |
May 2014 |
Sustainable Production |
Understanding the Genetic Variation in Spruce Budworm Species Spruce budworm has done more economic damage across Canada than
mountain pine beetle and has had a larger impact in Alberta for
many more years. A complex of several closely related species, the
pest attacks coniferous trees, and outbreaks can be
devastating. |
May 2014 |
Bioindustrial Innovation |
CNC-Reinforced Lightweight Sandwich Structure Industry and academics are excited about a high value material that can be extracted from wood fibre called cellulose nanocrystals (CNC). |
May 2014 |
Bioindustrial Innovation |
New Tools for Modular and Off-Site Construction Industry The 2014 Modular and Off-Site Construction Summit held in May in Edmonton featured many updates from the research program managed by the NSERC Industrial Research Chair in the Industrialization of Building Construction at the University of Alberta. |
May 2014 |
Bioindustrial Innovation |
Maintaining Pellet Export Pathway to Europe The European Union (EU) consumes about 85 per cent of the world's wood pellets. About 30 per cent is supplied by Canada, amounting to almost $300 million in annual sales to the EU. But until recently, Canada's access to the European wood pellet market was in jeopardy. |
May 2014 |
Ecosystem Services |
Dr. Scott Nielsen is interested in research that can be applied to solve conservation and stewardship challenges. An associate professor in the Department of Renewable Resources at the University of Alberta, Nielsen has spent the past 14 years working on grizzly bear conservation. He is now one of two new Alberta Biodiversity Conservation Chairs at the university, working to address biodiversity conservation in the oil sands. |
May 2014 |
Ecosystem Services |
Passionate about wildlife and the environment since childhood, Tom Habib spends his days at a computer figuring out how to quantify their value to society. A conservation offsets expert, Habib is a research coordinator on the Alberta Biodiversity Monitoring Institute's (ABMI) Ecosystem Services Advisory Committee, and he's playing a lead role in the new and rapidly evolving field of ecosystem services. |
May 2014 |
Ecosystem Services |
Methane Biofilters Inexpensive Technology for Reducing GHG Emissions In Alberta and around the world, there are countless low-volume
methane emitters, including landfills, oil and gas field sites, and
feedlots. Individually, they don't release enough methane to
warrant capturing the gas to use for energy, but taken as a whole,
they do make a contribution to global greenhouse gas emissions. An
innovative technology that uses bacteria in biofilters to reduce
the amount of methane might be the solution, and while the product
isn't on the market yet, it has already captured international
attention. |
May 2014 |
Food Innovation |
Originally from Germany, Dr. Michael Gänzle, professor and
Canada Research Chair (Tier 2), Agricultural, Food and Nutritional
Science, University of Alberta, has been contributing to the field
of food microbiology since the early 1990s. Curiosity and new
discoveries have kept him passionate about his work. |
May 2014 |
Food Innovation |
Getting the Salty Taste Consumers Love while Cutting the Salt High levels of sodium in the North American diet have been shown to increase the risk of high blood pressure and cardiovascular disease. While both industry and government want to reduce salt in processed food, that has to be done in a way that doesn't impact taste, or consumers won't be interested. |
May 2014 |
Food Innovation |
Researchers Bringing Value to the Humble Potato Peel Alberta is one of Canada's largest potato producers. Growing numbers of those potatoes are destined to end up in processed potato products that don't use the peels. Today, potato peels are waste, but a new technology might make them valuable to industry. |
May 2014 |
Sustainable Production |
Boosting Profit Margins for Swine and Poultry Producers There is growing competition for feed grains for swine and
poultry, and costs have escalated. Because these grains are the
largest component of animals' diets, Alberta's producers are
watching their cost of production rise dramatically. To help
producers stay competitive, it is critical to identify alternative
feedstuffs that can reduce production costs without impacting
animal performance |
May 2014 |
Sustainable Production |
A New Approach to Developing Hardier Crop Varieties Stresses such as extreme temperatures, drought, nitrogen and
phosphorous deficiencies, and viruses reduce agricultural
productivity. Until now, there were only two ways of improving the
stress resistance of crops: selection and breeding, and genetic
modification. But thanks to ongoing research in a new direction,
there could be another method available that results in plants
adapting rapidly to the environment and remaining stress resistant
for generations. |
May 2014 |
Food Innovation |
16 Years Later, CanBiocin Continues to Pursue New Products Located in Edmonton, CanBiocin Inc. is a research and
development company focused on developing lactic acid
bacteria-based products to enhance human and animal health. Today
this novel Alberta company is actively pursuing the
commercialization of new products that could lead to the growth of
the business and improve the health of companion animals. consumers
won't be interested. |
May 2014 |
Sustainable Production |
New tool allows for faster identification of clubroot-resistant canola plants An innovative screening technique developed in a project funded by AI Bio offers a fast, highly accurate way to select for resistance and can be used in the future to collect more information about the pathogen that causes clubroot. |
May 2014 |
Sustainable Production
|
Dr. John Basarab. Talent Profile A research scientist at Alberta Agriculture and Rural Development and adjunct professor at the universities of Alberta and Manitoba, as well as a member of the senior management team of Livestock Gentec, Basarab's work has directly benefited the beef industry and continues to do so in new ways. |
March 2014 |
Bioindustrial Innovation |
OSB and foam structural insulated panel aiming for building code acceptance Research and testing is now being done to develop a technical guide to garner possible National Building Code of Canada (NBCC) acceptance for a composite building material called a structural insulated panel (SIP) consisting of a foam interior with oriented strandboard (OSB) as the only structural wood component around the exterior. |
February 2014 | Bioindustrial Innovation |
Modular and Off-site Construction Summit coming in May Attendees to the upcoming 2014 Modular and Off-Site Construction Summit slated for Edmonton from May 12-14 can expect the same high quality of presenters and technology transfer potential as when the inaugural-and highly successful-2012 Summit was held. |
April 2014 |
Bioindustrial Innovation |
AI Bio working through IEA to maintain pellet export pathway to Europe The European Union consumes about 85 per cent of the world's wood pellets, and about 30 per cent of that is supplied by Canada. AI Bio has supported Canadian Institute of Forestry activities aimed at averting potential trade barriers to this important market. |
